


the terrors of a high school history class

by wreckwithoutyou



Category: Cobra Kai (Web Series), Karate Kid (Movies)
Genre: M/M, Panic Attacks, Pre-Relationship, These tags are so unhelpful, Tw John Kreese, Tw slight suicidal ideation, bonding over daddy issues, johnny whump johnny whump, please take care of yourself, rated for language
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-14
Updated: 2021-02-14
Packaged: 2021-03-14 13:41:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,678
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29419548
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wreckwithoutyou/pseuds/wreckwithoutyou
Summary: “Was that a panic attack?” Daniel asked.“What?” Johnny said.
Relationships: Daniel LaRusso/Johnny Lawrence
Comments: 4
Kudos: 88





	the terrors of a high school history class

**Author's Note:**

> Heyyyyyy. Um. So I was writing a kiaz fic and got bored and wrote this real quick. This is my first fanfic so I'm honestly not sure what I'm doing. I don't want to proofread and chicken out of posting, so please forgive any errors. Anyway, hope this is enjoyable. 
> 
> Tw for panic attacks, slight suicidal ideation (a couple of lines), and Kreese hurting/threatening Johnny

Even though they had come to an agreement with Sensei Kreese, Daniel was still a little paranoid around the Cobra Kai gang. But besides some pretty intense glares, they hadn’t laid a finger on him. 

He’d been seeing Ali more, and he was starting to recognize that he didn’t really like her the way he thought he had at first. He still had a vindictive streak that was fueling most of his want to be around her. 

He was sitting in math, watching the seconds tick down on the clock as he waited for the bell to ring. Johnny was in this class with him, but he wasn’t here. It should have made him more calm, but it was only serving to alight his nerves more than usual. There couldn’t be any good reason for Johnny missing the first period. Daniel’s first thought was that he must be out to get him.

Five minutes before the bell rang, Johnny slipped into the classroom. 

“Mr. Lawrence, thanks for joining us,” their teacher snidely remarked. 

Johnny nodded, looking at the ground and slid into his seat, a couple up and a row over from Daniel. Daniel studied his nonchalance inquisitively. He seemed really out of it. Their teacher just rolled their eyes and moved on with the lesson.

Daniel couldn’t take his eyes off of Johnny for the rest of the lesson. He watched him as he opened his notebook, only to tap his pencil on the desk and then tap his fingers on his thigh. He scratched at his wrist at one point, his sleeve lifting up enough that some bruises crept over the side. 

Karma was a bitch wasn’t it?

“Mr. Lawrence?”

Both Daniel and Johnny flinched in unison.

Johnny looked up at their teacher, who looked slightly pissed and slightly concerned? Is that what else there was in his expression? Of course, the rich, pretty blond boy had all the teachers charmed. Nothing could ever be fair. 

“Yes, sir?” Johnny replied. 

The bell rang right as the teacher opened his mouth. Johnny looked back and forth between the door and the teacher before grabbing his things and quickly ducking out. Daniel watched their teacher as he sighed in defeat. He wondered what all that was about. 

Daniel saw Johnny more times throughout the day than he wished he had to. It seemed like everywhere he went, Johnny was one step behind or one step ahead. 

Gym class was absolutely the worst part. Johnny and his four goonies were worse when they were all together. If Daniel was being honest, Bobby was honestly pretty nice on his own. Jimmy was mostly quiet. And Tommy was only violent as a sidekick, he wouldn’t instigate with Daniel on his own. Dutch had a mean streak, but he also seemed to obey Kreese’s word as though it was law. 

Johnny was the worst because he seemed to be the only one who really had something against Daniel. Ali, presumably, but the boy was acting like a bit of a drama queen. 

He also was the one that Daniel had the most classes with. But still, gym class was absolutely the worst. 

He was off by one of the goals, standing in front of the net as Ali playfully tried to score on him. Across the field, he could see Johnny and Bobby huddled together. They were whispering to each other, and Daniel could see his eyebrows worriedly narrowed at Johnny. Johnny was just shaking his head. Bobby’s fingers were loosely holding Johnny’s wrist. It was such a small thing but it seemed so softly intimate. Daniel looked away. 

“What’s up with him?” Daniel asked, jerking a thumb in Johnny’s direction. 

Ali glanced back briefly. Concern briefly flitted across her face before she turned back around with an eye roll. 

“Probably nothing,” she replied. 

Daniel didn’t have another second to think of Johnny before his thoughts turned to the ball Ali managed to send soaring to his left. 

\--Johnny--  
Johnny was pretty confident that there were a lot of problems you could punch your way out of. That was always his go to move. However, adults seemed to be a major obstacle in punching his way through his problems. 

Kreese, Sid, the weird old man. Never did him any good. 

The closer they got to the tournament, the more overtime he did at the dojo. Kreese was working his ass, having him work until his muscles burned and his legs were shaking underneath him. He had been taking so many ice baths that he was either living completely numb or in a low burning consistent pain. 

Sid was giving him shit around the house too. He had found weed in Johnny’s room right after Halloween, and it had been constant screaming since. Sometimes Sid would leave with his mom too, leaving him by himself. Sid never left money, and gave half the house staff off when he went away. It was getting tiring, wandering the lonely house by himself, but he much preferred it to the constant yelling. 

Sometimes he went over to Bobby’s, but he knew not to go too frequently. Bobby got too concerned. Johnny was afraid that all the emotions that he locked behind his anger would spill out if Bobby looked at him with those soft eyes, with the genuine concern. 

He couldn’t punch his way out of that either. 

Kreese was at the forefront of his concern right now, Sid being away on a trip. He had started telling Johnny to come in the mornings before school. 

Sometimes when the rest of the students weren’t there, Kreese would make Johnny fight him. He never pulled his punches. 

Today, after getting knocked down repeatedly, Johnny had finally had enough. He turned to walk off the mat, knowing he had to be off to school anyway. Kreese had caught his wrist tightly. 

“Where do you think you’re going, Lawrence?” he asked.

“I have to be at school,” Johnny said. 

Kreese pulled at Johnny’s wrist and leaned down to his ear. 

“You listen to me boy, if you don’t win this damn tournament, it’s your ass on the line,” Kreese said. “Understand?”

“Yes, Sensei,” Johnny said shakily. 

Kreese dropped his wrist, and Johnny rushed to go change. Once he was wearing his jeans and sweater, he left with his backpack. If he moved quickly he’d make it to school on time. He slid into the driver’s seat, reached for the ignition, and shit. 

On his right wrist, there were bruises. Bruises in the shape of fingers, gripping him in the form of a permanent reminder. Kreese was going to kill him. Shit. That was a threat. Kreese wasn’t the man who had control over his anger beyond channeling it into violence. And that violence would then be unleashed upon Johnny. Shit, he was going to die. 

He felt his lungs seizing up in his chest. The sound of his breathing sounded like it was outside of his body. His heart was pounding and pounding. 

Shit. 

He was going to die. He was going to die. He was going to die. 

His heart was beating so fast. His hands were shaking as he tried to turn the ignition. He couldn’t do that. Fuck, was he dying? Now, was he dying. Better than dying by Kreese’s hand. 

He needed help. Was he having a heart attack? Could seventeen year old’s have heart attacks. He didn’t think so, but it felt like a heart attack. He wanted help. But who would help him?

Shit, shit, shit. He was still sitting outside Cobra Kai. Was Kreese watching him? Was Kreese watching him die, cigar loose in his lips, smoke thick in the air, a smirk pinned to his face. 

His hands were still shaking. His heart is still beating. His breath still loudly hovering in the air. It was quickening. How long had he been crying? Why wasn’t he dead yet. God, he wanted to die and just get it over with. No more Kreese, no more Sid, no more big brown-eyed boys from Jersey who lingered too long in his dreams. Fuck them all. 

He tried to remember Bobby, with a hand on his back, up in his bedroom, telling Johnny to breathe. The time he had slept over, and he heard Bobby’s dad yelling, which later turned out to be a work call, but had sped up Johnny’s heart. He remembered his eyes moving to the window, making a tiny aborted movement. Bobby turned confused and concerned eyes on him. He had started to breathe fast, and Bobby counted him through a few deep breaths. It hadn’t been like this though. 

This felt like dying. His legs, arms, hands shaking. His heart is still beating fast. 

Breathe, Johnny. 

He heard it like Bobby’s voice in his head. He breaths in, counts to five, breaths out. Repeat. Repeat. Repeat. In and out. In, hold, out. Breathe, Johnny. 

And then it’s over. He settles back into his skin. The world comes into sharp clarity. He didn’t remember it going so blurry. He looked at the time on his dashboard, and he was officially late for school. When did thirty minutes pass? 

He pushed everything out of his mind, locked it away to deal with later. Then, he absolutely booked it to school. 

He made it through the day, which was the most he could ask for. Math, he escaped without too much scrutiny from a concerned teacher. Gym, he was able to brush off enough of Bobby’s concern. Lunch was whatever. If the guys noticed he was a bit more reserved, maybe a bit out of it, they didn’t bring it up. 

He barely could remember anything past this morning. The image of Kreese dragging him in the dojo was just scraping through his mind over and over again. 

He sat in history, last period and fidgeted with his notes. And then for whatever reason, he remembered that he had to go back to the dojo after school. How did he forget that? Shit, and now his heartbeat was picking up again. He wanted to go home and crawl into bed and forget about the whole thing. 

He was starting to breathe a little quicker. The girl sitting next to him turned to him with a glare, and he mumbled a sorry. 

“Mr. Lawrence? Did you have something to say?” the teacher said. 

“Uh,” he wiped his sweaty palms on his jeans. “Can I use the bathroom?”

“Fine,” the teacher sighed. “Go.”

\--Daniel--  
Johnny had been acting weird all day, but it had been a while since he got up to use the bathroom and he wasn’t back. Surely, he must be up to something. 

It wasn’t Daniel’s fault that he was so paranoid. He should be, after the crap that Johnny had pulled. He had to be on 24/7, watching his own ass. 

The bell rang, and still, no Johnny. His stuff was sitting out on his desk, notes open, pencil seconds from rolling onto the floor. The students rushed off, all wanting to escape as fast as they could. 

“Mr. LaRusso?” Mr. Harris called from the front of the room. 

“Yes, sir?” Daniel replied. 

“Can you bring Mr. Lawrence his things. You two are friends, correct?” 

“Um.”

“Thank you, so much,” Mr. Harris said. 

With that, he scooped up a binder and hurried out of the classroom. 

Daniel had no choice but to pack up Johnny’s things. He noticed as he walked over that besides the heading of the chapter, the notebook was empty for today. He huffed and closed it up. He slung his backpack on one shoulder and Johnny’s on the other. Then, he headed to the bathroom. 

And it was empty? No Johnny in sight. 

He turned towards the parking lot, not sure where to go. If he had to search this whole damn school for his bully he was going to lose his mind. 

Johnny’s car was still in the parking lot, and besides some teachers cars, it was otherwise empty. Daniel turned and walked down the halls. He peaked around corners and ducked into bathrooms. 

Finally, he turned a corner, where there was a dead end hallway tucked around the corner. There, curled up on the ground, was Johnny Lawrence. 

Daniel stood still for a moment, trying to figure out what was going on. Johnny was crying? But, it was more than that. He was scratching at his arms, the sleeve once again pulled up over his bruises. Was that a hand print? Daniel tried to push down the concern for this guy that he hated. 

He seemed to be having a hard time breathing, and his hands were shaking hard enough that Daniel could actually see it. He didn’t seem to have noticed Daniel was even standing there. 

“Johnny? Are you okay?” Daniel asked. 

Johnny turned toward him, but his gaze went straight past him, cloudy and unfocused. He was mumbling under his breath. Daniel couldn’t make out the words. 

Okay, now he was actually concerned for the boy.  
He crouched down, and reached his hands out, only to be met with a flinch. 

“Please, please. I don’t want to die,” Johnny murmured. “He’s going to kill me. I’m going to die. I’m dying. Dying. Help. I’m dying.”

Daniel stood up, alarmed. He needed an adult. An adult would know what to do. He stood to go find a teacher, but Johnny grabbed his leg quickly. Daniel tensed in fear. 

“Don’t go, sorry, don’t go. I’m sorry. Please stay, don’t want to be alone. Please,” Johnny said. 

Words were falling out of his mouth in a continuous train of fragments. Phrases clipping in and making sense, he thought he was dying, he was apologizing a lot. He repeated that he didn’t want to be alone. 

Daniel sat down again. 

“Johnny,” he said. “Look at me.”

This time Johnny listened, eyes focusing on Daniel’s face, all though they still seemed cloudy and a little out of it.

“We’re going to breathe, okay?” 

Johnny nodded jerkingly. 

“In,” he said with a breath in. “Out.”

He said it over and over until their breathing fell into sync. Then, Johnny’s hands stopped shaking so much, his tears slowed. His eyes cleared a bit more. 

“Daniel,” he huffed. “Sorry, man.”

“Sorry?” Daniel laughed. 

“Yeah that you had to deal with that,” Johnny said with a motion to himself. 

Daniel had expected anger, but from Johnny’s body language, he seemed too exhausted to muster up anything else but aloof indifference. 

“It’s fine, Lawrence. Scared me for a second there.”

“Same. If I’m being honest with you, I genuinely thought I was dying. Happened earlier today too,” he said, dragging his pale hands over his face, scrubbing at tears. 

“Was that a panic attack?” Daniel asked. 

“What?” Johnny said. 

“A panic attack. One of my aunts got them a couple times after her husband died. I remember seeing her at the funeral. But, it was the same thing, hyperventilating, focused on something within her own mind. She said it felt like a heart attack the first time. Nearly got my mom to drive her to the hospital before she was able to calm down,” Daniel said. 

“Oh. Huh,” Johnny said. “Maybe that is what it is.”  
Daniel looked out to where their feet were now outstretched, side by side, Johnny’s legs stretching further than Daniel’s. 

“What were you panicking about? The terrors of a high school history class?” Daniel said. 

“Uh, no man, it’s nothing.”

“Okay, well clearly it’s not nothing, I mean you don’t have to tell me, I was just asking. I mean I did just find you here, in a pool of tears, and I-.”

“It’s Kreese, okay man?” Johnny said angrily. 

Daniel sat back to wrap his head around that one for a second. 

“I'm the defending champion of the under 18 tournament. I have to win. I have to be the one to beat you. I’ve been damn near killing myself in training, staying after, coming early, coming before school. I was heading off this morning, and he grabbed me, fucking threatened me,” Johnny said. 

The anger stayed in his voice, but a tremor rocked through him with that last statement. 

“He threatened you?” Daniel asked. 

“Said it was on me if you win, if I lose. Basically means I don’t win this shitty thing and I’m getting beat from here to hell. Just worried he might not know when to stop,” Johnny said quietly. 

“Johnny, he shouldn’t be touching you at all, going too far is way past the line of normal teacher student punishment. Plus, it’s not about winning or losing, just that you try your best for you,” Daniel said. 

“Man that’s some bullshit. Try telling my sensei that. Winning is everything. Being the best, you know?” Johnny said. 

“That’s not how you should be taught. Mr. Miyagi says there’s no such thing as a bad student, only a bad teacher.” 

“Well, that’s great for me I guess. I’m not a total fuck up, fantastic.”

“No one said you were, Johnny.”

“Danielle, they are all thinking it.”

“Don’t call me that,” Daniel huffed. 

“Well, then mind your goddamn business.”

“I was before I found you hyperventilating on the floor.”

“Maybe you should’ve just left me here to die.”

And, Daniel paused. He bit back a retort, agreeance in the cruelest form resting on his tongue. He couldn’t agree with Johnny. Because that felt a little too real. That felt like telling him he was a fuck up. 

“I would never, Johnny. You’re an asshole, but I don’t want you to die,” Daniel said, choosing his words carefully. 

Johnny didn’t respond for a second, glancing at his shoes. He ran his hands idly through his blond hair. 

“What’s your dad like?” Johnny asked. 

“Dead.” 

Daniel laughed a little at Johnny’s affronted look. Johnny cracked a bit of a grin, and laughed too. They sat there for a second descending into hysterical giggles. 

“Man, your humor is fucked, LaRusso, sorry for asking,” Johnny said through a laugh. 

“No, it’s fine, whatever,” Daniel laughed. “He was a good guy. Before he passed. Loved my ma, loved me. Used to save up money to take me to baseball games, sit high in the stands. He would buy me two hot dogs. Cotton candy. Ice cream, too, if I promised not to tell my mom. She wouldn’t have cared really, we just liked having this secret we pretended to guard carefully.”

“I never knew my dad,” Johnny said. 

“What? You just live with your mom? All the way up there in Encino?” he asked. 

“Nah, she got remarried. Sid. He’s an asshole. Likes to be on my ass all the time, yelling and shit,” Johnny said.

“He hit you?” Daniel asked. 

“No. It’s just that he literally hates me. I mean, he has reason too,” Johnny said. 

“What would that be?”

Johnny’s voice deepened in what Daniel assumed was an imitation of his stepdad, “You lousy, useless fucking waste of space. Wish we could send you off, but your mom would miss her little boy too much. Stupid bitch, you’re the whole reason she’s on meds.”

Daniel swallowed. 

“My grades aren’t good enough, he thinks karate is dumb, thinks I’m dumb. Real bullshit, honestly,” Johnny said. 

“I’m sorry you have to deal with that. You know, getting bullied at home. At least I only have to deal with that at school,” Daniel said, elbowing Johnny a bit. 

“Yeah, I’m sorry man. I just got so angry. I punch my problems, and, at the time, I thought you were the problem,” Johnny said. 

“Thanks,” Daniel said. “Why do you stay with Kreese?”  
Johnny was quiet for a second, presumably ruminating over his thoughts. 

“God, this is going to sound stupid,” he said. 

“Try me.”

“When my mom married Sid, and we moved to Encino, it felt like a good thing. I didn’t have money growing up,” Johnny said. 

“I didn’t know that,” Daniel said. 

Johnny shrugged. 

“I had this huge room, and a pool, and this humongous house. There were boys who were vying for my friendship because their dads wanted in with Sid. It felt good. And I had a dad. I love my mom, so much. But, I had always wanted a dad. He made it clear very quickly that he was not going to be playing the part of father, only husband, and barely that.”

“Johnny, I’m so sorry.”

“Yeah, it sucked. He just ignored me at first. He started yelling at me because I cried all the time when I was a kid. He hated it. Then it was just ignoring me or yelling at me, and then ignoring me when he wanted to yell because he knew how much that felt like punishment. He never showed me any affection, no praise, no nothing.”

Johnny twisted his hands together in his lap. 

“I was biking around when I saw Cobra Kai. I started to get tough, so Sid would have less to be ashamed of. I stayed because Kreese cared about me.”

“I’m not sure that’s quite the right way to word it,” Daniel said. 

“No, but it’s true. He doesn’t love me, but he cares. He cares if I win, if I do good in practice, and he cares when I work hard. He would squeeze my shoulder, tell me to lead class, slip praise into his commands, and that made me stay.”

“He would?”

“There isn’t as much of that now. I think sometimes that he knows that he has me, and maybe this whole time he knew what he was doing.”

“But you stay because, what? He’s the closest thing to a father you have?” Daniel asked. 

“Yeah,” Johnny blew out the air that he had been holding in his lungs. “Closest thing.”

“That honestly sucks, man,” Daniel said. 

They both turned and looked at each other before breaking into another fit of hysterical laughter. 

“You know what?” Johnny said, “You’re alright, LaRusso.”

**Author's Note:**

> Hehe. 
> 
> I really meant for this to be more romantic, but I have more lawrusso ideas. 
> 
> Also, I think they had history third period? But I stuck it last so I didn't have to make up a teacher. 
> 
> Hope everyone has a great day :)))


End file.
